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Tomlin on Steelers final OTA session

Opening Comment: We did good work today in less than ideal weather conditions. Oftentimes in the fall and winter when we are working in our stadium, it is in less than ideal weather conditions. It was a good simulation day for us. We did a little red-zone work. I liked the energy and enthusiasm with the group. But all in all, it was just a good work day. We will push forward into next week with our next opportunity to take the grass and get better.

Any update on Ben Roethlisberger?
No. I released a statement post-surgery yesterday. There’s nothing new to add. He’s resting comfortably at home. We will get him in the building next week and proceed.

Re: Chemistry of quarterbacks without Ben Roethlisberger:
It’s football in shorts. It’s June, so we won’t read too much into that. Those guys made good use of the extra snaps provided for them today. That’s what this is about. This is a teach camp. It’s an opportunity for those guys to get more reps, and they did a nice job taking advantage of it.

Do you feel there is a gap in the team with Ben being gone?
Again, it’s June. So we aren’t overly concerned with that to be honest with you. We are undefeated like everybody else in the NFL.

It's a Motor City term for how well a car goes together — do the hood and fenders blend together seamlessly? Does the dashboard rattle and shake? Was the carpet installed without seams showing, or was it thrown down as an afterthought?

What's evident during the Steelers' offseason practices is that coach Mike Tomlin didn't like the fit and finish of his 2012 model team.

He didn't believe it was fit, and he certainly didn't like how it finished games.

The Steelers' five losses by three points all occurred as the result of their uneven fourth quarters. They meant the difference between a team that was 8-8 despite splitting a pair of three-point games with the Super Bowl champion Ravens and one that might have gone 12-4 for a third consecutive season.

Talk about the fine line Bill Cowher always discussed.

“Four games we should have won. Do that, and we're 12-4, but that's how the league goes,” linebacker Larry Foote said. “The year before, we made the playoffs and we could have lost four games. The bottom line is we lost some games that we should have won and we didn't.”

The four games he likely meant were the losses to the Raiders (34-31), Titans (26-23), Browns (20-14) and/or the Ravens home game (13-10) and the overtime Cowboys game (27-24). The Steelers led in the fourth quarter of the Raiders, Titans and Cowboys games, plus a season-opening loss to the Broncos.

Given how incessantly Tomlin has preached the importance of conditioning this spring — it has been a daily theme, according to his players — he apparently believes that a lack of conditioning contributed to those close losses last season, plus the numerous injuries.

During postseason interviews in January, team president Art Rooney II emphasized that the organization's conditioning regimen would be examined. Apparently, it was, given the Steelers' adjustments to their daily practice routine.

“Conditioning has gone up a notch,” Foote said. “Everybody has to do stress tests. We're trying to get after it.”

Specifically, running back Isaac Redman said, “Before practice, we do a little different routine, try to get our bodies warmed up and not try to run right into practice, to try to prevent those little hamstring injuries. I've never done that since we've been here. It's kind of a new thing. It's working out. We don't see too many hamstring (problems).”

Of course, it's very early. But it was late in the games last season when the Steelers struggled, and it somewhat perpetuated the thinking among some in the NFL that an aging team had peaked and is past its prime.

They outscored their opponents, 91-70, in the fourth quarter, but that's a misleading statistic. Of their 16 lost fumbles, six came in the fourth quarter, as did six of their 14 interceptions.

And there's this: Steelers opponents threw only one touchdown pass and had four interceptions in the first quarter but had five TD passes and two interceptions in the fourth.

And Steelers opponents threw 12 touchdown passes and only one interception and completed seven passes of 25 yards or more when losing. By comparison, the Steelers had 12 touchdown passes but 10 interceptions when behind.

Apparently as a result, players said Tomlin has emphasized the necessity of being a more disciplined team that controls the ball, the clock and the lead in the fourth quarter. That's where conditioning partly comes in because tired teams often are mistake-prone teams.

“The plan starting now is to have discipline in the fourth quarter of games,” safety Ryan Clark said.

Has Tomlin ever said anything at all interesting? I have never heard someone say so much, with so little learned by what they are saying.

Which is exactly his intent. No different than Bellichek.

Tomlin recognizes that the media is a necessary evil. They add nothing to what he is trying to accomplish and he has zero obligation to provide them insights so message board warriors such as ourselves have something to talk about.

Playing Fantasy Football does not qualify you to be the in the front office or on the coaching staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are professionals and you are not!

Robinson: Steelers coach Tomlin says it’s time to shape up
Specifically, running back Isaac Redman said, “Before practice, we do a little different routine, try to get our bodies warmed up and not try to run right into practice, to try to prevent those little hamstring injuries. I've never done that since we've been here. It's kind of a new thing. It's working out. We don't see too many hamstring (problems).”

I find this very surprising. Little to no warm-up? I would think this probably accounts for a lot of the muscle pulls and tendon injuries that has been plaguing them. Glad to see they are implementing some corrective actions.
Seems a lot of teams are planning for more up tempo games this offseason, the emphasis on conditioning could pay off.

I find this very surprising. Little to no warm-up? I would think this probably accounts for a lot of the muscle pulls and tendon injuries that has been plaguing them. Glad to see they are implementing some corrective actions.
Seems a lot of teams are planning for more up tempo games this offseason, the emphasis on conditioning could pay off.

I was thinking the same thing, practice with little to no warm up? Are these guys not professionals? Sounds insane to me.

The second day of Steelers minicamp is in the books with only an abbreviated walk-through scheduled for Thursday (Hat Day). The Steelers will then have off six weeks until they report to St. Vincent College in Latrobe on July 26.

Before I get into football stuff, here are some tidbits for you that came out of Minicamp 2:

• Tackle Mike Adams was at the facility on Wednesday for the first time since being stabbed during an attempted carjacking on the South Side two weeks ago. Adams was not made available to the media, but appeared to be in good spirits and good shape. It’s very likely that he will be 100 percent for the start of training camp.

• Once again, former Steelers were on hand helping coaching in Rod Woodson, Jason Gildon, Rod Rutherford and Mike Tomczak. Also, former offensive lineman Oliver Ross was helping as well. Throw in BLESTO scout Chidi Iwuoma and scout Mark Breuner along with former Pro Bowl center Jeff Hartings and former linebacker out of North Braddock Bill Priatko making a visit, and the Steelers’ facility was crawling with past players.

Sylvester played inside linebacker in college and rotated to the outside for sub-packages, but never really played the position that requires him to rush the passer.

“I am still learning,” Sylvester said. “I have a lot of friends that play outside linebacker – I train with Paul Kruger in Utah in offseason. I am learning a lot of different stuff from a lot of different people and just from watching film. LaMarr Woodley and even James Harrison from the past helped me and even Chris Carter and Jason Worilds – they have amazing first steps and I am trying to learn that.”

Sylvester said he has worked inside and outside since coming to the Steelers. While it is impossible for me to see every snap he took during the spring, I figured I’d ask him if he took any reps inside over the past month?

“No … well, um, not really,” he said.

• How many times do you hear how important it is for an offensive line to have chemistry? Too many, right?

Well, the Steelers offensive linemen are taking this chemistry thing to another level.

“We started to wear the same pair of shoes to look like each other,” guard Ramon Foster said. “They are regular linemen cleats. We are going to wear the same shoe as part of our unity. We have been criticized and scrutinized for years and it is time for us to be a dominant force.”

• Shamarko Thomas is learning a lot from both safeties Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu that’s inspired him. But nothing inspired the rookie out of Syracuse more than the day he got drafted. That’s when he got calls from both Clark and Polamalu.

“They left me voicemails welcoming me,” Thomas said. “After that, I was so pumped up I wanted to go and work out.”

• We all thought that when the Steelers signed William Gay in the offseason that he would naturally fit into the slot when the Steelers went to the nickel.

Well, that’s not the way secondary coach Carnell Lake views it.

Lake plans on the bigger and more physical Cortez Allen sliding over into the slot in the nickel and replace him at corner with Gay.

Why?

“For a tall defensive back, Cortez does a very good job in man-to-man and especially bump-and-run and he has quick enough feet to handle the slot receivers,” Lake said. “Some of the time we are getting two tight end sets where they use their athletic tight end in the slot and Cortez’s size matches up well with that. He has a lot of versatility and a lot of range and he can play outside, inside, press-man, off coverage and he is smart enough to handle them all and that’s why I like him.”

It’s not just Lake who continues to praise Allen.

I asked Polamalu, Clark, Ike Taylor and William Gay about him, and to a man, they gushed.

• Speaking of the secondary, in case you haven’t noticed, there isn’t much in the way of depth behind Polamalu and Clark.

In reality, the Steelers are paper thin at the safety position behind the two Pro Bowl safeties. They have DaMon Cromartie-Smith, Robert Golden, Ross Ventrone and Thomas – all four combined have zero career starts.

“I definitely felt a lot more comfortable last year because I knew that the guys knew what they were doing,” said Lake, who lost Ryan Mundy and Will Allen to free agency. “It was a matter of getting the younger guys caught up. That will be the excitement for me, sort of keeping me on my toes at training camp but also to see who is going to come out of this young group of safeties to shine.”

• We haven’t heard much about the new rule the NFL implemented that penalizes a running back for using the crown of his helmet while 3 yards outside the tackle box.

So, I did some snooping and asked some people on what they thought of the rule.

Kirby Wilson: “We are aware of it but we are not going to over-coach it, because it’s going to really be a minor deal in terms of how they play the game. They are going to run and still attack defenders, but it’s just that you are going to protect yourself when being tackled. It’s just that you can’t attack people with the crown of your head. We all understand that. It’s a safety issue that everyone is concerned about. We are not going to over-coach it. They understand what they can’t do with the crown. It won’t change on how they protect themselves and how they attack potential tacklers.”

Jonathan Dwyer: “I really don’t use mine but obviously they are looking out for the safety of the players. We don’t teach that here. We are taught to use your shoulder and if we do that, we will be fine.”

Isaac Redman: “Kirby hasn’t mentioned it at all. We have to wait and see until the NFL comes in and show exactly what they want us to do. Right now, I really don’t even understand it. Even so, I don’t think it is going to affect the way I run. I don’t put my head down.”

LaRod Stephens-Howling: “It is going to be something that is rough because when you get to the end of you run, it is kind of reactionary to get more yards. I guess it will be where they draw the line.”